Constant
by Totally-Out-Of-It
Summary: It's partly about Becker. It's partly about Connor. But it's mostly about a cat: Becker's cat. Hinted one-sided Becker/Connor. One-shot.


**Constant**

_It's partly about Becker. It's partly about Connor. But it's mostly about a cat: Becker's cat. Hinted one-sided Becker/Connor. One-shot._

**A/N:** I don't know. I just really wanted to write about Becker and a cat. And it's 'one-sided' because there's no indication, from this limited Becker-view, that Connor reciprocates the feelings. However...**:D**_**  
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…

…

No one really knows this, but Becker once had a pet cat. It was a deep dark chocolate brown, almost black color, except on the toes of its paws where it was a light cream color, and had eyes the color of dark caramel. He'd never seen a cat with eyes that dark, something brown and creamy looking, and when it looked out from the shelter cage at him with the most adorably curious look and put a paw against the bars where he stood….well, he couldn't say no.

He named his cat Constant because although he was always quiet, he was always there. He was always small, never grew to full size like the outdoor cats Becker saw around the neighborhood, but he was Becker's and Becker loved those things that made his cat special.

His mother didn't like Constant. She was upset that he'd picked a cat instead of a dog, like he was supposed to. Whenever Constant walked into his mother's room, or the kitchen, or tried to sit next to her, Mrs. Becker would toss him out of the room and tell him not to go there or do that. At those times, Constant would hurry to Becker, wherever he was in the house. He'd sit on the floor and let out a small meow and when Becker looked over at him, he was wearing the most pitiful look of shame and belittlement that Becker has ever seen. Then he'd let Constant sit on his lap and snuggle with him, and Constant would purr with the attention and look pleased with the world.

Constant got into everything. He snooped and burrowed and climbed, but rarely broke anything. Becker once found him at the bottom of his very full laundry bin, once under the tiny space between the bottom of his dresser and the floor, once on the top shelf of his closet, and once in his school bag when he was already in class. Constant messed with Becker's toys and his gadgets and his electronics, almost like he was trying to actually use them or play with them. He was always adorable and so Becker let him do what he wanted most of the time. But when he said "No" Constant stopped and went away, because it was almost like Constant could understand everything Becker said.

He loved that cat.

Then one day, a large dog escaped from its owner's house. Even into his late twenties, Becker doesn't know what kind of dog it was. Either way: the dog saw Becker outside his house and attacked him. Constant got outside via an open window - which was amazing in and of itself since Constant was terrified of the outdoors – and faced off against the dog. The two fought. Constant won and the dog left, but Constant was badly injured and died soon after.

Becker won't admit to crying, but the truth is that he did.

Years later he was made Head of Security of the Anomaly Research Center. He met Sir James Lester, Professor Cutter, Abigail Maitland, and Connor Temple: the boss and the team. Besides his first impression that the entire staff of the ARC was mad for believing in dinosaurs, Hilary Becker also couldn't shake how much Connor Temple reminded him of his old pet cat.

Connor got excited at the smallest amount of praise. He wore that same pitiful look when reprimanded or when he failed. He was always curious and inventing and investigating everything. He tried to protect his friends, even at the risk of his own life. He was amazing. He was cute.

So if Becker paid more attention to Connor than anyone else, he could blame it on the resemblance. If Becker ever had to stop himself from ruffling Connor's hair, or holding him when he was down, or watching him whenever they were in the same room, he thought it was understandable. And if he was a bit more protective of the brave idiot than he was of the others, no one seemed to mind. And if he came to care for Connor more than anyone else, even beyond the similarities to a warm memory, Becker never let it show and no one ever noticed.

Because maybe he saw Connor as his pet, or maybe he was just using the pet excuse to hide from his own feelings. Because maybe Connor was just that important to the team, or maybe he was that important to Becker . But maybe, just maybe, it was because, after all the time and dinosaurs and talking and fighting for their lives and amazing discovery…Maybe the simplest answer was that-

Becker sort of loved that geek.

...

...

Fin.


End file.
